Life is filled with sacrifices

Have you ever been in a room where there’s a mirror and you wondered if it were a regular mirror — or a mirror where people on the other side could see you but you couldn’t see them?

Irene MichelColumnist

Have you ever been in a room where there’s a mirror and you wondered if it were a regular mirror — or a mirror where people on the other side could see you but you couldn’t see them?More than a decade ago, I received an email explaining how to tell the difference, and when I’m in doubt, I use that information to set my mind at ease. I’ve never found a mirror in any establishment I visited that had a mirror where they could “spy” on me. All the mirrors were the “legitimate” kind.How did I know? I put the tip of my fingernail against the mirror and if there’s a gap between my fingernail and the mirror it’s an okay mirror. Never have I tried to test a mirror where I found that my fingernail directly touched the image in the mirror. If it’s a “spy” mirror, you can tell by the space: Just keep in mind the little jingle, “No space, leave the place.” Someone could be watching you. Now, as I said I never ran across a mirror without the space, and you probably won’t either, but it’s always better to be safe than sorry.Many years ago, I received a letter from a lady who identified herself as CampboatLady. Here it is, in part, “I have been especially enjoying the C’est la Vie articles by Mrs. Michel. I’ve traveled into the past with her and identified with her writings. I’ve saved and filed away some of her articles for my grandchildren who are forever asking, ‘Grandma, tell us about your childhood.’ ”It’s a little late to be thanking CampboatLady, but isn’t there a saying “Better late than never.” So, thanks, CampboatLady. I’m so glad you enjoyed my articles and hope you are still enjoying them.In another letter I received what I might call a priceless quote, except I have a daughter I would never have considered burying at age 10 under any circumstances.It seems Jimmy Buffet had advice which he must have thought was wise, though rather strange, about raising teenage girls. His advice, “Bury ‘em at 10, dig ‘em up at 30.” Then he supposedly said, “If we don’t laugh, we’ll all go insane.”Well, I and many other mothers of a large family can say, with a measure of authority, that we didn’t go insane raising our offspring. We may have been well on the way to going broke, but our take on that was, “Is there anything better to spend your money on?”My husband and I deprived ourselves of a lot of things we considered luxuries — new shoes, presents we would have liked to give each other on birthdays, anniversaries, etc., new flooring in the house, and countless other “little” things that today are considered “needs” rather than luxuries. I still consider a cellphone a luxury; more than one vehicle would also go in the “luxury” category. Yet, many people have cellphones, including some who are on public assistance.Back when we were rearing our large family, it was difficult to differentiate between needs and luxuries. So often we did without needs because considering our large family we wanted to think of their needs first. We’ve never regretted it. Now that I am older and my husband is no longer living, I consider it a fact that he and I made wise choices way back when they were young. We did without some things, but so did they. I’m sure they would have loved to have an allowance every week, but we just could not do that. They understood. Today, they understand why we had to make the decisions we made back then and are grateful for the things we were able to do for them. They’ve told us many times that it was because of us that they did so well as adults.You can’t even imagine how good those words sound unless you’ve trod the same path.

Irene C. Michel, a native of Terrebonne Parish, is a columnist for The Courier and Daily Comet. She can be reached at 876-3252 or ICMwriter84@gmail.com.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.